Sunday Morning Worship Service
by Mark McCool
First Apostolic Church of Knoxville (Knoxville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Philippians 3:1-8, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, 2 Timothy 4:7-8, Luke 21:8-13, 1 Corinthians 7:17-20, Mark 8:36-37, Philippians 3:9-11, Acts 1:3-8

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/mark-mccool--sunday-morning-worship-service-141
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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Lord bless you I'm going to let you move to your seats we greet you in the precious name of Jesus on this Resurrection Sunday the Lord's day I came to tell someone anything can happen I said anything can happen on this Easter Sunday morning because we're serving The God Who is the master of every situation he's the master over the impossible situations and he's the Healer of every life I give you greetings from all here at First Apostolic Church we're so honored and pleased to have you worshiping with us today to all of our guests if this is your first time an Apostolic service we want you to feel the welcome of this church and most of all we want you to feel welcome to worship the same God that we're worshiping I must take just a moment to tell you how exciting it is to be with God's people I just had the privilege of preaching one night of a great conference in El Salvador on Wednesday night the conference went Wednesday Thursday and Friday and I had the privilege of preaching the first night and as I sat there in the beginning of the service and just saw the pre-service activities of all the saints of God there in El Salvador coming into the house of the Lord my heart was so blessed and so filled to meet some more of my family that I didn't know until then more Apostolic Jesus name holy ghost-filled Saints in the country of El Salvador what a privilege it was for me to preach I'm so glad to see Brother Joseph and sister Kami it's all brother Matthew earlier they made it back so what a marvelous time we had Brother Juan did a marvelous job for the Juan Perez putting this conference together and I brought them greetings from all of you so I bring you greetings from all of them that there are more of our great big church family that are worshiping the Lord today and celebrating just as we we are I also would say we had a marvelous time at our district youth retreat what a great time the Lord saw so many of you there and this is a very special week and today is the special day of this week for we indeed are celebrating Our Risen Savior as we do on this day and as we apostolics do every day we celebrate that we're serving a risen savior I want to take you to the word of the Lord this morning and I I hope that it will touch all of our lives and all of our hearts once again as we reminisce and we're reminded of this great day and I I do have to also say we're going to do this throughout the year but I can't help but mention it again I think in it it is amazing thing that we are celebrating Bishop McCool's 75th year in the ministry now let let's sink in 75 years in the ministry Bishop McCool started preaching when he was 11 years old and we are so excited to we're going to we're celebrating a year because we're going to celebrate this whole year so uh I'm just thankful to have Bishop McCool and his wisdom his resources he and sister McCool as our Bishop and first lady of this assembly and I just have to bring that up again thank you all for all you do for First Apostolic church I want to call your attention to the book of Philippians this morning Philippians the third chapter [Music] and stay with me because I want to read just a few verses Philippians 3 beginning with verse number one finally my brethren rejoice in the Lord there's another message right there but I have to stop and tell you it says finally when everything else fails at the end you ought to Worship the Lord but that's another message for another time finally my brother rejoice in the Lord to write the same things to you to me indeed is not Grievous but for you it is safe beware of dogs beware of evil doers Beware of the concision for we are the circumcision which worship God in spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh though I might also have confidence in the flesh if any other man thinketh he hath whereof he might Trust In the Flesh I more circumcised The Eighth Day of the stock of Israel of The Tribe of Benjamin a Hebrew of the Hebrews as touching the law of Pharisee concerning Zeal persecuting the church touching the righteousness which is in the law blameless but what things were gained to me those I counted loss for Christ yay doubtless and I count all things but loss for the Excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things I do count them but done that I may win Christ that I may win Christ for a few moments today I would speak to you on this subject that I may win Christ let's pray father we're grateful to be in your house once again we stand before you so awed at the opportunity to speak your word Lord nothing I can say nothing I can do would be of effect but Lord let your word go into our hearts and into our minds Lord let us hear and receive what you would have for us on this wonderful day Lord we celebrate you and we praise you in Jesus name we pray amen and amen in our human existence there is indeed an obsession with winning it starts early having a Christian School and Child Care Center if you have two children side by side one wants to be first in line all right if you tell them no running in the hall they will want to see who can walk the fastest it's innate apparently we want to win we live in a competitive world we keep score we seek trophies that represent Great accomplishments trophies are made of some expensive and even not so expensive material but incredible value to winning those trophies seems to be attached to our social way of living I did a little research on some of the trophies that we seek in our Humanity to signify a win such trophy is the Vince Lombardi Trophy signifying the Super Bowl champion of the National Football League it's valued at fifty thousand dollars yet just to advertise for the game that is played to win that Trophy this past year Fox network charged seven million dollars for a 30-second commercial to win a 50 000 trophy the value of the average NFL franchise is 4.47 billion dollars yet they're trying to win a 50 000 trophy the Stanley Cup the oldest trophy awarded in professional sports in the United States dating back to 1892 is valued at six hundred and fifty thousand dollars yet the average franchise in the NHL is valued at 1.3 billion dollars which means the owner has already invested over a billion dollars to win a 650 000 trophy are you seeing a pattern here the commissioner's trophy for winning Major League Baseball's World Series is made by Tiffany's and is worth approximately fifteen thousand dollars yet the average Major League baseball franchise is worth 2.36 billion dollars for 15 000 trophy the Larry O'Brien trophy given to the NBA champion is valued at thirteen thousand five hundred dollars also made by Tiffany's but the average MLB franchise is worth 2.86 billion dollars and it may shock you to find out that a Grammy award costs a whole 15 dollars to make but if you check out the net worth of most Grammy winners it will be well over multiplied tens of millions of dollars the Oscar statuette cast and bronze finished with gold plating the word is most coveted in the film industry and the academy values it at one dollar they say that's what it's worth but by the rules you're not allowed to sell it an Emmy Award regardless of its actual material cost of 350 dollars it's net worth is worth its more than its weight in gold to Sun despite the cheap manufacturing of one of the most famous statuettes it is esteemed as priceless and finally even today the elite of all golfers are Vine for a green jacket in Augusta that is valued to make at two hundred and fifty dollars yet the net worth of the most successful golfer ever Tiger Woods is 1.1 billion dollars but he'd like to win a 250 dollar jacket so you see winning has a lot more to do with the value of the winning than the trophy that you receive these examples of actual trophy costs versus the benefits should tell us that it's important not just what you win but what goes along with what you win it's not the trophy it's the power that goes along with the trophy it's The credibility that the trophy gives you Paul said to the Corinthians in Corinthians 9 24 know ye not that they which run and erase run off but one receiveth the prize one gets the trophy so run that you may obtain and every man that striveth for the Mastery is temperate in all things now they do it to obtain a corruptable crown a 15 trophy but we in incorruptible I therefore so run not as uncertain so fight I not as one that beat at the air but I keep my body keep under my body and bring it into subjection lest that by any means when I preached to others I myself should be a Castaway Paul compared competition and winning to his spiritual journey to win Christ in second Timothy 4 he told Timothy in verse 7 I have fought a good fight I had finished my course I've kept the faith henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous just shall give me at that day and not only to me but unto all them also that love his appearing Paul is trying to get a message across he said my goal is not to win a trophy but I'm not running in this race as uncertain he said I've got one thing on my mind I want to win Christ that's the award I want o brothers and sisters if we can have that as our goal above everything else in this world I must win Christ in my life forget the accolades forget the costs oh an NFL franchise can spend billions to win a 15 000 trophy what are you willing to spend in your life to win Christ billionaires who will write songs are not considered successful until they've achieved a 15 dollar trophy that's got a little horn on top of it what are you willing to spend to win Christ in your life Paul in our original text gave some warnings because he said there's going to be some blocks there's going to be some distractions there's going to be some people that are going to try to prevent you from winning Christ he put up some signs he said Beware yes he said Beware of the Dog but you have to understand what he's talking about he wasn't talking about The Lovable four-footed creature that curls up with you as a lap dog he wasn't even talking about a junkyard dog that barks at everything that moves but instead you must understand what he was talking about the Jews of that day had become so super Pious that they looked at the Gentiles and said the Gentiles are dogs they're not under the Covenant of Christ now this was not a race of people the Jews but it was the richest the rich Elite please understand the difference this wasn't talking about a race of people but it's talking about the religious Elite of that day began looking down their nose on those who had not been circumcised and they didn't say they said they're not under the Covenant of Moses but you see when Jesus came along a new new dispensation had happened the new dispensation had come and no longer was their Jew or Gentile but we're all children of Christ we were all followers of Christ and had that opportunity and the very thing that they were holding as making others dogs now had been switched and they had become the dogs he said be careful of those we're trying to convince you that you're better than everyone else you know in this day that we live it would be good for us to realize that prejudice does not come from heaven it would be good for us to know that thinking that in any part of your life in any faction of your life that you're better than anybody else or any group of people or any better than anybody else I'm here to tell you we can only be saved by the grace of God and obedience to his word and we all have free says yes no matter who we are no matter where we came from no matter our pedigree or lack thereof no matter our background we all have free access Beware of the dogs that would try to divide you he put out some warning signs he said Beware of evil doers one commentator said of this that that meant judaizing teachers who endeavored to pervert the gospel those who would take the word and twist it and wrist it for their own means and for their own personal preferences Jesus said it this way in Luke 21 8 and he said take heed that you be not deceived for many shall come in my name saying I am Christ and the time draweth near go ye not therefore after them but when now sounds like anything you've heard of recently but when ye shall hear of wars and commotions be not terrified for these things must first come to pass but the end is not by and by then he said then he said unto them Nation shall rise against Nation Kingdom against Kingdom and The Great Earthquake shall be in diverse places and famines and pestilence and fearful sides and Great Signs shall there be from heaven but before all these they shall lay their hands on you and persecute you and deliver you up to the synagogues and to the prisons being brought before Kings and rulers for my name's sake this is not politically correct but it's right you better know Christianity is under attack like never before not around the world here in the USA the country that was supposed to be the land of the free the home of the break established on Christian principles Christianity is under attack you better be ready this is not some ominous warning I'm telling you scripture is being fulfilled before our eyes I say this not to frighten you but it's to make you aware that Jesus is coming back for his people the Believers around the world they're Christians around the world that are facing all kinds of tribulation and it's happening here and it shall turn to you for a testimony and then Jesus said they said settle it in your heart if you're not a follower of God it won't be settled in your heart you can be a convenient Christian I welcome everybody that's here on this Easter Sunday but I encourage you to have a consistent walk with God find yourself in the house of God frequently find yourself praying all the time find yourself worshiping God all the time settle it in your heart today not to meditate before what ye shall answer there shouldn't be a pause if you're asked if you're a Christian you shouldn't have to think about it and then he said Beware of concision Adam Clark Bible commentator said of this passage the word concession concision is used by the Apostle to degrade their pretensions with the Jews make to sanctify by cutting their flesh circumcision was an honorable thing for it was a sign of the Covenant but as they now had rejected the New Covenant their circumcision was rendered uncircumcision and is termed a cutting by the way of degradation in other words they have legalistically taking some taking something that was honorable and made it dishonorable by making it a test of Salvation in their eyes First Corinthians 7 17 gives us insight into a new covenant it said but is God hath distributed to every man as the Lord hath called everyone so let him walk and so ordain I in the churches is any man called being circumcised let him not become uncircumcised has any man called in uncircumcision let him not be circumcised circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing but the keeping of The Commandments of God let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called he said there's a new covenant those old things have been changed when Christ died on the cross and the resurrection took place no longer with those things of the flesh be the the defining line between those of the New Covenant he said there's neither Jew nor Greek neither Bond nor free what does that mean to us it means if we aren't careful we can let some pet doctrinal personal preference interfere with our goal of winning Christ and then as we talked of achieving Christ in our life there's a difference in what something is valued at and the difference in what something is worth verse 8 of our text he said yea Dallas and I counted all things but loss for excellent Excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord Paul went through and he was not playing both sides of the fence instead he was making it known to the Philippians that some of the things they were having to deal with and some of the things that they were having to uh be facing that was in opposition to them he was he was letting them know that he had experienced all of it he said I was circumcised on the eighth day he said Hebrew Hebrews probably Benjamin I I I I know what all of those things are about and he said I went through all of those things and you know what I did I persecuted Christians what he was saying my intentions were right but I hadn't won Christ yet into my life I had gone through all the rituals and the forms I had done all the things that that was supposed to be done under the old Covenant but it didn't give me enlightenment I had become a persecutor of the Christians you see Paul who was Saul beforehand had to have a personal experience with Christ he had to know Jesus for himself let me tell you forget about all the Traditions you've heard about you got to know Jesus for yourself you see when Paul had his Damascus Road experience suddenly his eyes were open and in In the Flesh he was as we say blind as a bat he had more Enlightenment when he couldn't see with his natural eyes for it was revealed to him by the word of the Lord Jesus spoke from Heaven he said Lord who art thou and the reply was my name is Jesus whom thou persecute he said when you're persecuting my people you're persecuting me Paul got enlightenment he said so all of that stuff I learned I was an educated man I knew all the the rituals I I knew all this stuff he said you know what I count all that now he said I count that as laws that goes in the Lost column for whom I have suffered the loss of all things he wasn't meaning he took a vow of poverty he was simply saying those things that I achieved are not important he said and do count them but done that I might that I may win Christ Paul is saying all his accomplishments and achievements or nothing more than the most disgusting excrement in comparison to winning Christ he said I counted all loss for the Excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus don't ever allow yourself to have a skewed pity party of your past and say you'd have been so great before you started serving the lord oh I gave up so much I would have been famous you'd have been a center Bound for hell that's what you'd have been doesn't matter your accomplishments those are losses it doesn't matter how much you gain you lost you see if you don't have Christ you're a loser you lost Jesus said it this way you can win and still lose Jesus said in Mark 8 36 for what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul oh what shall a man give in exchange for his soul 15 trophy a fifteen thousand dollar trophy I even read where among those who didn't bring it up because most folks here it wouldn't apply to us but if there's anybody who happens to keep up with yachting raise your hand if you no me either but the Americas America's Cup is valued in its actual value at a hundred and fifty dollars yet some entrepreneurs have spent as much as 300 billion dollars to win that 150 trophy I didn't say million I said billion understand if there's something greater than winning Christ in your life you're not winning it does not matter how much you gain and how much you Attain but all of these folks whether it be the owner of a franchise or whether it be an elite athlete or whether it be an artist in music or in cinema we know they don't really worry about the trophy it's the power that it brings but let me tell you today and praise team and musicians get ready I was amazed I did a little word search study in my computer Bible I didn't count it by hand you'll be glad to know but the word win only appears twice in the entire Bible the word win only appears twice once a wicked King thought he could win over God's people and he learned that it didn't work that way and the second time it's used is In this passage that we read in our text that I might win Christ what goes along with winning Christ what are the perks what do you get well let me tell you what you get when you win Christ for he went on in Philippians and said this he said and this is beginning with verse number nine of Philippians 3 and be found in him not having mine own righteousness which is of the law but that which is through the Faith of Christ the righteousness which is of god by faith knowing this that I may know him here's what you get that I may know him and the power of his resurrection you see when you win Christ you got some power that goes along with it you have the power of the Resurrection why do we celebrate on Easter brother McCoo there's a lot of ugly stuff you talk about yeah I know last week was Palm Sunday but then we talked about Good Friday we talk about all the ugly stuff of the crucifixion the crown of thorns all the beating and and the nails there's a lot of graphic stuff are we celebrating that he said that I may know him and the power of His Resurrection The Fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death what does that mean we have the Assurance when we win Christ that we have his power we also have the power of the Resurrection yeah we fellowship with his suffering but we have the power of the resurrection and we become conformable please notice this we become conformable not to our death when we die we did but when he died he got up and I became conformable to his death I have resurrection power living in me oh Hallelujah that's why I want to win Christ I want to give everything of my life to win Christ stand with me he said if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the Dead I have the promise when I have the power of the Resurrection when I win Christ I have the fellowship of his sufferings I conform to his death [Music] so you see one would ask what do I need to do now to win Christ glad you asked because acts 1 3 said it this way to whom also he showed himself Alive Now understand this is after the crucifixion the death the burial and the resurrection has taken place to whom speaking of Jesus he showed himself alive after his Passion by many infallible proofs being seen of them forty days speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God it wasn't a one-time appearance they were being exposed to the power of the resurrection and being assembled together with them commanded them that they should not depart from from Jerusalem but he said to wait for the promise of the Father which saith he ye have heard of me for John truly baptized with water but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence here's the secret here's where the power comes from and when they therefore come together they ask of him saying Lord without at this time restore again the Kingdom of Israel they were still thinking in the natural is Israel about to become the strong Kingdom again he said unto them it's not for you to know the time of the seasons which the father put in his own power you see because he had every one of us in mind we haven't been hadn't been born yet we hadn't been thought of yet but in the mind of God he knew that there would be some people here on this beautiful April morning there would be some people that are striving to win Christ that's what he said ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you and ye shall be Witnesses unto me in both Jerusalem and all Judea and in Samaria and under the uttermost parts of the Earth let me ask you is there anybody under the sound of my voice that wants to win Christ do you want to make that Proclamation today above all else I'm going to win Christ I want the power of the holy ghost moving in my life if you're here today and you want to win Christ I challenge you for a season of prayer to step out and make your way around this altar find a way to step out and say God I want to win you you're the trophy you're what I desire you're what I want to be I want the power of the Holy Ghost working in me would you gather for a season of thanks a season of power a season of remembrance on this Easter Sunday morning Hallelujah there is nothing stronger